The Netherlands has increased its ICU capacity to 2,400 in order to cope with the number of coronavirus patients that need urgent medical care. As of now, there are 1385 patients in total.
This is an increase of 25 patients from yesterday. The good news is that the influx of patients seems to be flattening because the numbers of patients remain the same as people who were sick before are now leaving the ICUs, reports RTL Nieuws.
Today 1385 patients related to the #coronavirus are on the intensive care. The reserved capacity has been increased to ~1900. In total 2400 IC beds are now available, but ~500 beds are in theory for 'regular' patients. #coronavirusNL #covid19NL pic.twitter.com/ExBuFo2f6i
— TAG (@itsTAGofficial) April 5, 2020
Some patients sent to Germany
Germany offered to help the Netherlands some time ago in terms of housing ICU patients to prevent overwhelming the Dutch healthcare system.
As of now, of the 1385 Dutch ICU patients, 24 of them are in Germany. Over the last day, there have been 34 medical trips between the two countries, with 26 of these trips to an intensive care unit.
Sufficient accommodation in ICU’s in the Netherlands
According to the National Coordination Center for Patient Distribution (LCPS), there is currently sufficient accommodation in the intensive care units in Dutch hospitals for all people who might need it. Out of the 2400 available ICU’s, 500 of them are reserved for non-corona related patients.
Cautious optimism
While the influx of patients has remained steady, according to Diederik Gommers, chairman of intensive care association NIVC, it is still too early for optimism.
According to him, there is a high chance that the number of cases will increase to around 2000 ICU patients, which will present significant challenges to the healthcare system. The Dutch should continue practicing good measures of social distancing and personal hygiene to prevent this.
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Feature Image: J. van Rosmalen/Wikimedia Commons
